October arrives with a bountiful harvest of exhibitions and art lectures in Milwaukee. Here are some early fruits to enjoy.

Thurs., Oct. 6, has a veritable cornucopia of events. UWM Art History Gallery opens “The Expressionist Portrait: Pathos and Persona in German Art,” with a talk by Kenneth Bendiner at 6 p.m. (see Artwatch, Sept. 22, 2011). On the Marquette University campus, 13th Street and Clybourn, Milwaukee artists present “Conversations About Art, Philosophy, and Communication.” This discussion is a complement to the “Current Tendencies” exhibition, and it is followed by a reception. Vying for your attention this same evening is artist Jim Campbell at the Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Dr. He speaks at 6:15 about his art, technology, and his recent addition to the MAM collection, “Taxi Ride to Sarah's Studio” (2010).

Fear not, dear reader ­– this logjam of lectures dissipates to a more leisurely pace next week.

MAM continues celebrating the 10th anniversary of the winged addition at 1:30 p.m. on Tues., Oct. 11. In conjunction with the exhibition “Building a Masterpiece: Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Art Museum,” chief curator Brady Roberts shares the backstory of how this internationally recognized building came to be in Milwaukee.

UWM carries on with its “Artists Now!” series, a recurring exploration of contemporary visual practice through the voices of cutting-edge makers, at Arts Center Lecture Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. Tom Loeser speaks at 7 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 12, about his quirky, sculptural objects. You may recall Loeser’s art from an exhibition last year at Villa Terrace and his furniture-like pieces that easily and delightfully slip between function and dysfunction.

“Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper” officially opens at MAM on Fri., Oct. 14, with art by blockbuster names such as Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh and others. As part of the opening festivities, guest curator Christopher Lloyd, whose credits include overseeing the British royal collection as Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, talks about the exhibition in the Lubar Auditorium at 1:30 p.m.